3 (More) Great Tips for Social CRM

As our discussion of the value of CRM for social interactions continues, we will continue to discuss varying strategies and suggestions for effectively engaging your customers on social media.

Social media is the new battleground for marketers and salespeople. It has opened up access to a range of people that marketers could have only dreamed about in the past. It can also deliver very detailed information about prospective clients of the kind that would make a salesperson 20 years ago salivate at the thought.

Social media is an incredibly powerful tool, and an amazingly useful resource. However, it can be a somewhat fickle animal, so you must be careful and properly prepared. This article will help, with some tips on how to effectively and professionally engage customers utilizing CRM on social media.

1. Use List and Group Features

Just as email segmentation can be a very effective strategy, so too can using list and group features on social media to divide your prospects into targeted groups. Almost all of the most popular sites make it very easy to do this with built-in tools.

For example, create lists on Twitter in these categories: clients, prospects, hot leads, positive feedback, desired clients or influencers. This kind of targeting allows you to craft a specific message that will be more impactful to each group, as opposed to one overarching generic message that may miss its mark.

2. Talk With, Not At, Your Customers

Modern social media marketing is a two-way street, communication is key. Make sure to create interesting and engaging content that will get your customers in on the conversation. Be sure to avoid content that could be seen as simply pushing information at customers, these kind of campaigns come across as boring and are often unsuccessful.

3. Respond to Customers Quickly

This is a big one. If you’re going to take the time to craft a social media campaign, then you should be taking the time to continue engagement after your message is delivered.

In my personal experience I have used Twitter to ask support questions and praise a feature I enjoyed on a site or app. Some companies are excellent and respond within minutes, other companies simply never respond. I will be the first to say that my opinion of the responders increased, while my opinion of the non-responders decreased dramatically.

Don’t put yourself out on social media if you’re not willing to keep up the conversation.

These simple tips highlight one thing: communication. In the two-way world of social media marketing communication really is key. Communication is expected, and can be an immensely powerful tool when used correctly. So, get out there and start talking to your customers, you might be surprised what you discover.